


Cain and Abel

by LeilaSecretSmith (orphan_account)



Series: Communication is Key [2]
Category: Mystery Skulls Animated
Genre: Angst, Arthur does not have a good time, Canonical Character Death, Gen, Lewis does not have a good time, Mild Gore, Non-Canonical Character Death, Trippy bullshit, Why is everything I write like this???, implications of time travel, implications of unreality, it's not that bad I think but I also have no standards, no one has a good time, vengeance always escalates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-10 22:17:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16463408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/LeilaSecretSmith
Summary: Vengeance always escalates, Lewis.You maybe should have thought this through, Lewis.





	Cain and Abel

**Author's Note:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Arthur’s legs kicked frantically as Lewis dangled him over the ledge. _Murderer,_ thought Lewis, entirely consumed by the vengeful rage that had tied his soul to the mortal plane. _Traitor. Scum. Look me in the face before I repay you tenfold._ One of Arthur’s hands clenched tight around the sleeve of Lewis’s suit. The other stuttered up, weak and damaged, and if Lewis had been even one iota less angry, one iota more cautious, he would have noticed that it was metal instead of flesh. Arthur was terrified, _rightly terrified,_ and Lewis let his fury burn white-hot.

 

And then—

 

And then.

 

Arthur’s metal hand finally made contact with the arm holding him up. The terror evaporated, subsumed by blank shock. “Lewis?” he whispered, eyes wide and lips parted.

 

Lewis let go, Arthur’s words far too slow to penetrate his angry single-mindedness in time. It was only when Arthur was falling, one hand stretched out in supplication, his expression still blank with incomprehension, that the words and their implications sank in.

 

_He didn’t...know?_

 

Too late.

 

Too late, too late, too late, even for a spirit that could perform superhuman feats. Lewis blinked, stuttered forward a step, extended a hand, but Arthur had already stopped falling. Lewis blinked again, some part of him desperately hoping to wake up. His former best friend still didn't move. Lewis even couldn’t see his face over the sharp, red-coated spear of rock that jutted from his chest. Bright red stains bloomed across Arthur's white t-shirt as he watched.

 

_No._

 

_This isn’t right._

 

“Lewis.”

 

That was Mystery’s voice. The ghost turned robotically away from his best friend’s corpse, feeling cold for the first time since his death. The not-dog was sitting at the entrance of the tunnel, his hulking kitsune form silhouetted against the light. His eyes glowed a steady red. “Do you know the story of Cain and Abel, Lewis?” He asked, entirely too calm in the face of what Lewis had just done.

 

“I—”

 

“Cain killed Abel out of jealousy, but that’s not the important part here. When God banished Cain, he put a mark on him that promised seven-fold vengeance to any who killed him. Later, Cain swore that any who killed his son would suffer vengeance seventy-sevenfold.”

 

Lewis remained silent, still reeling from his own actions.

 

Mystery rose and stalked over to the ghost, lowering his massive head to look him directly in the eyes. “Do you know why that’s important, Lewis?”

 

“I—I don’t—”

 

Suddenly Mystery was directly in his face, his lips peeled back in a vicious snarl. “ _Vengeance. Escalates._ Lewis,” he bit out, each word accompanied by a sharp prod with one of his tails. “And ignorance is no excuse. Tell me, _boy,_ did you even bother to learn what happened the day you died?”

 

“I—” he looked back over the ledge, but Arthur’s body had vanished without a trace. “I—he pushed me.” His defense was weak. He knew it. Mystery knew it.

 

“ _Wrong answer,_ ” the kitsune snapped, crowding him back to the very end of the ledge. “You killed an innocent man, Lewis Pepper, and his vengeance will be seventy-sevenfold because  _revenge always escalates_. So next time—” He rose up, towering above the frozen specter “— _do better._ ” He lunged for the locket, his powerful jaws snapping closed with a sickening crunch.

 

Lewis didn’t even have time to scream.


End file.
